29 July 2012

With all due respect to Woodside, Queens, there aren't many reasons to visit this unlovely neighborhood. The Stop Inn is one. The Station Cafe dive bar is another. Top of the list is Donovan's Pub, which could easily be called the most Irish Pub-y Irish pub in the five borough, and one of the best, too. It's got a great outside. It's got a great inside, with a sunken dining room and a working fireplace. And it may have the best burger in New York.

Bad news comes from Sunnyside Post that the site of Donovan’s Pub is up for sale for $3.2 million and "its future as a business is up in the air, according to a real estate firm that is listing the property." Joe Donovan, who is in his late 70s, is selling.

According to the ad, the buyer will be acquiring the property with two retail operations–a dress shop and Donovan’s. However, as part of the terms of the sale, the pub will be left vacant.

7 comments:

I take it the writer has never been to Woodside, if he/she thinks Donovan's is one of the main reasons to go. Woodside, along with its neighbors Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, has some of the best ethnic restaurants in the city.

I worked in Woodside for five years. Yes, there is great ethnic food, but, as you say, in nearby Jackson Heights and Elmhurst. (Why make the comment if your observation is about other neighborhoods?) Aside from a couple exceptions, the food choices in downtown Woodside are uninspired. Believe me. I've eaten at most of them.

I was speaking of the food in Woodside primarily. As another commenter already stated, there is argualbly the best Filipino and Thai places in all of NYC in Woodside, as well as Korean and Nepalese places.

The original, running Jeremiad on the vestiges of Old New York as they are steamrolled under or threatened by the currently ruthless real estate market and the City Fathers' disregard for Gotham's historical and cultural fabric. Est. January 2006.Contact Me

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I have lived in New York City since 1988 and earn my bread as a writer. I began this blog in January 2006. Beyond that, don't be so nosy.
"I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism."
—Roberto Rossellini